Courtney Love Cops Plea on Assault Charge

Courtney Love has been sentenced to three years probation after pleading no-contest to a reduced assault charge, the Associated Press reports.

During a brief appearance in a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday, Love's attorney, Michael Rosenstein, struck a deal with prosecutors to keep the troubled singer out of jail. Love was not present at the hearing.

The original charges leveled against Love, 40, stem from an April 2004 incident at the home of Love's ex- boyfriend. At that time, Love reportedly entered her ex-flame's house where she found another woman sleeping on the couch, then allegedly threw a bottle at the woman and threatened her with a flashlight.

In order for the plea deal to stick, Love must attend anger management counseling, submit to random drug testing, pay a $1,000 fine and attend three Narcotics Anonymous meetings per week, AP reports.

If she is successful, two felony drug charges against Love will also be dropped. The singer was charged with illegal possession of painkillers after she was taken to a hospital following a break-in at the same residence in 2003.

"She's doing this as much for herself as for the courts," her attorney Michael Rosenstein said.